


Velvet Rage

by zum



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: Coming Out, Nonbinary Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-10-01 18:16:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10196045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zum/pseuds/zum
Summary: Dennis finds Mac's collection of books and reveals his own secret.





	

**Author's Note:**

> spoilers for season 12

“So… you’re gay now.”

Mac halted in tying his shoes and looked up at Dennis who was lording over him from the doorway.

“Yeah.”

“And you’re telling everybody?”

“Yeah, like I told Cricket even,” Mac said, going back to tying his shoes and not looking at Dennis. When Mac looked back up, Dennis was gone. Mac called out to him when Dennis came out of his room with a stack of books that he slammed in front of Mac on the coffee table. A well-loved stack of books, there were covers peeling and pages bookmarked and ripped and Mac recognized each of them instantly.

“Dude! No, c’mon—“

Instead, Dennis read the titles off as he sorted the stacks.

“Outing Yourself: How to Come Out as Lesbian or Gay to Your Family, Friends, and Coworkers. Frankly My Dear I’m Gay: The Late Bloomers Guide to Coming Out. The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing Up Gay in a Straight Man’s World…” Dennis paused and looked up from the books at Mac. “Second edition.”

“It’s not like there was another one in stores, Dennis. I just bought what was on the shelf—“

“Pride: The Story of the First Openly Gay Navy Seal.”

“That one was like Woah, y’know what I mean? I forgot about all that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell shit—“ But then Mac realized there were more books in that stack, books he didn’t recognize.

"You and Your Gender Identity: A Guide to Discovery,” Mac read upside-down. The weird purple eye on the cover was distracting, but once he processed the title he shook his head and began to argue.

“No, no! That’s not mine! Dennis, why would I buy Trans Bodies, Trans Selves? This is entrapment! I’m not—I’m not like that! I’m just gay, dude, I’m not some girl running around in a dude’s body! That’s not—you know it’s not—“

Dennis wasn’t saying anything. Dennis wasn’t even looking at him, which was even more infuriating.

“Jesus, Dennis! This isn’t funny! Why d’ya gotta make this about that. I’m just gay, dude, I thought you knew what that meant and I’m Not—“

“I am.”

That stopped Mac in his tracks. Dennis still wasn’t looking at him. Dennis was wringing his hands, actually, refusing to meet Mac’s gaze. His eyes were tracing the multicolored cover of the trans book. 

“You are?”

“Sorta.” Dennis still wouldn’t look at Mac, but Dennis handed Mac the big book and opened it to where the bookmark rested. “Read this chapter. And then…” He flipped open to another page, another chapter with its title highlighted. Mac saw notes and scribbles in the margins as Dennis flipped through the pages.

“I read all of your books, so…” Dennis’s gaze flashed up to meet Mac’s. Mac didn’t know how to read Dennis’ face at all, his expression was so… nothing, but Mac smiled.

“Yeah, dude. Sure. Wait, uh, is dude still—?”

“Yeah.”

Mac beamed and gave Dennis a thumbs up.

“Cool. I’ll read this later. I gotta go,” he gestured toward the door. Dennis nodded and started to retreat back into the bedroom until Mac called back to him again.

“Thanks for telling me!”

Mac shut the door and opened another one.


End file.
